North Powderhorn Fuels Project, CO

CLIENT: BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

EMPSi helped prepare an EA for the North Powderhorn Fuels Project on 90,725 acres of BLM-administered lands within the Gunnison Field Office (GFO). The BLM’s vegetation management will cover a wide range of vegetation treatments, which would occur on approximately 20,000 acres and be implemented over the next 15 years.

The fuels treatments are intended to avoid the wildfires that have occurred in areas with high beetle infestations, heavy fuel loading, and extreme or exceptional drought conditions. Wildfires that occur under these conditions tend to have a longer burn duration, more acres burned, increased fire severity and intensity, and reduced tree regeneration.

Ongoing monitoring of the lynx population in the southern Rocky Mountains and western Colorado suggests that 100 to 250 lynx are present within this area. EMPSi analyzed the potential effects of the fuels treatments on lynx, and project design criteria would be applied to avoid activities during sensitive periods for lynx.

FAST FACTS:

• Evaluated fuels treatments proposed in the Powderhorn Wilderness and Wilderness Study Area

• Vegetation treatments would enhance the long-term function, viability, resistance, and resilience of regional vegetation communities and promote species diversity

• Tribal consultation was held with members of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, the Ute mountain Ute Indian Tribe, and the Ute Indian Tribe of the Ouray and Uintah Reservation